The present invention relates to a fryer for culinary use of the type having a deep receptacle for containing a cooking medium such as oil into which the food is immersed, such fryers being commonly referred to as “deep fryers” or “deep fat fryers”.
Deep fryers have been used for frying of food in commercial establishments for very many years. It is only more recently that deep fryers of a smaller dimension have become popular for use in the home. Such deep fryers generally have an outer housing which may be plastic or metal which supports an inner oil containing receptacle formed of metal or other heat resilient material such as ceramic or tempered glass. A heating element is arranged either immediately below the receptacle in a so-called “non-immersion” type, or extends into the receptacle either through an opening in the receptacle wall or is shaped to extend over the top of the wall down towards the bottom of the receptacle in an “immersion” type. In the latter type the oil is heated directly, which has the advantages that the thermal performance is generally better than the non-immersion type with pre-heat time is reduced, response time to regain proper cooking temperature on immersion of food reduced, and the power rating can generally be smaller for equal cooking effect.
For fryers to be used in the home, it is highly desirable to provide the fryer with a lid, both for safety reasons preventing accidental access to or the spitting out of hot oil, and to contain or at least partly contain the vapours produced during cooking to limit their spread through the home. A problem however with providing a lid is that this traps moisture which has been released from the food being cooked, the moisture tending to condense on the lid and dripping back into the receptacle of hot oil where it adversely affects the cooking process. The present invention seeks to overcome this problem.